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Picnic Festival 2011

published by gerbrand on 09 Aug 2011 13:24

Task:

Videoregistraties lezingenprogramma en live cameraprojectie

We're proud to announce that the organisers of the Picnic Festival have selected Engage! to produce the video documentation of the festival. We'll be producing around 35 videos, shot with a 3-camera setup. We'll also be providing live camera feeds for the immense projection screen.

Three full days of information, inspiration, collaboration, co-creation and entertainment. A chance for prolonged conversations and development of relationships. Interdisciplinary themes attract the widest possible audience. Every year, our key themes evolve to reflect changes in our personal lives, our society, economy and environment. Cutting-edge content with far-reaching applications. Get inspired by the latest visions from global thought leaders. But also learn from exciting, new and upcoming talents.

Picnic 2011 Theme: Urban Futures

The world is undergoing the largest wave of population growth in history: we are looking at more than 8 billion people in 2030 and essentially all of the growth will take place in the less developed countries, concentrated among the poorest populations in urban areas. By that time at least 70% of the world population will be living in an urban environment.

And there is a very good reason for that development: urban environments hold many promises for a better future simply because of their massive scale and density. Cities generate jobs and thus income, they can provide education, healthcare and other services more efficiently than less densely settled areas. And cities offer the chance to climb the social ladder, especially for women.

But the same scale and proximity that provide chances, will also amplify challenges to keep urban life livable. Most cities have never been designed to host a population that soon will surpass that of the entire Netherlands (16,6 million). So can their infrastructure hold up, maintaining the distribution of utilties? What about mobility issues, clogged up streets and insufficient transport?

Environment and sustainability are a huge challenge in dense areas like (mega)cities: from waste management (the vast landfills in India go hand in hand with the waste crisis in Naples, Italy), to air quality (the smog filled cities in China) and the use of (natural) resources. How can technology help to monitor our usage and visualize the "problem areas"?

The huge scale of our (future) megacities will also impact social dynamics and the commitment of residents to keep up the quality of their living environment. In emerging countries like Brazil and India, growing slums demand a new approach of governance and valuation of informal economic dynamics. Should the role of governments change? And can the application of open data or the influence of social media play a role in shifting control back to citizens more?

We're looking to engage you and others of the world's most creative and innovative minds at PICNIC Festival 2011. Join us investigating several urban future scenarios, including perspectives on: